Star Trek Online is celebrating it’s second anniversary. The game, which recently went to a free-to-play model has some new events including a mission where you can fly around the new Odyssey class ship (aka the Enterprise-F). Check out a video of the ship in game below, plus a trailer for the first episode of the upcoming fourth season of STO.

Anniversary Event & Odyssey preview mission

Star Trek Online launched 2 years ago this week and through Monday, February 6th STo is celebrating the anniversary and the recent shift to a free-to-play model. As part of the celebration there are a couple of special in-game activities. There are daily Q missions, and a one-time "flagship" mission with the new Odyssey class ship (the result of the winning entry from last year’s "Design the Enterprise F" contest). There is also a flagship mission for Klingon characters with the new Bortas class starship.

The new missions allow players to try out the new ships, but Cryptic says that the ships will not be available "for some time." However according to the anniversary FAQ players can
"expect that variations of these ships will show up in the C-Store next month."

Here is a video showing of the Odyssey flagship mission (thanks ThekKatrinaCrew).

"The 2800" Feature Episodes Trailer

On Saturday February 11th STO debuts the first episode of their fourth season, titled "The 2800." Check out the new trailer.

As much as I enjoy this game, I am just not that good at figuring out all that goes into creating a top notch tank, or top notch DPS toon. I started off playing an Engineer in a Sovereign which eventually led me to my getting chewed out by some guy for not playing to my full potential. I ignored the attitude but listened to what he had to say. This led me to creating a TacO in a Sovereign.

The theory was this. Since STOs bad guys will always focus on the toons doing the most damage, what good is a tank if no one is shooting at you? Made sense to me.

Your comment saying that you played through the STFs without dying have peaked my interest and I would like to know what you did to achieve that, since I have died no matter what toon I was playing. If you wouldn’t mind can we get together in game and could you help me figure out what I need to do? I am @ResinIlluminati. I will be playing throughout the weekend. Thanks.

February 3, 2012 4:09 pm

sean

The Odyssey isn’t much of a ship, really not a great advantage over an Engineer in a Star Cruiser, honestly. And oi, the turn rate is unbearable.

@#8 The new skill system actually has a Rear Admiral skill called Threat Control, which increases your threat output.

Combine that with using Beam weapons and using the Beam fire at Will and move your ship into the center of a group of baddies, and you become a pretty good target.

And if you have a coordinated team, like a fleet STF run (Science Healer, 2 Tac DPS, Eng Tank), you could have a designated healer who will help you out (not that you will need it, since you’ll be healing yourself pretty handily, since Emergency Power to Shields, Miracle Worker and Hazard Emitters can bring you back up to fighting form pretty quickly)

@#6 Its more a re-design of the Star Cruiser (Rear Admiral Upper Half), the stats are the same, except one major difference: LtCdr and Ensign universal BO slots (replacing the Engineer LtCdr and Ensign Sci). In the hands of a Engineer captain, the right spec, and the right items to increase repair rate and shield generation, and the Odyssey will out perform the Sovereign (which is more DPS based, with two Tac BO slots) and Starcruiser (Which is more Healing/Tank based with two Science BO Slots).

Also, from personal Experience, the Odyssey outperforms my VA Galaxy Retrofit in the same role, same gear.

February 3, 2012 4:37 pm

Phil

I don’t play many games – from the demo, it looks like the Borg have been reduced to target practice bouys…..

@#9 The Odyssey has the same turn rate as the Starcruiser, both have a rating of 6, the only difference is the Inertia, the Starcrusier has 15, while the Odyssey has 20, understandable that its the largest ship in the Fleet.

You can modify the turn rate with RCS consoles, but Engineering consoles are better suited for something else, like Inertial Dampeners (for crew recovery) or Structural Integrity Field Generators (for hull resilience)

Since you’re playing a cruiser, you’re going to be spending most of your time broad-siding enemies with beam weapons and lining up your bow/aft photons for a High Yield/Torpedo Spread anyways (the slow turn rate can work in your advantage if you turn in direction your enemy is turning and they move into you’re firing solution).

You just got to modify your play-style.

February 3, 2012 5:06 pm

et

@#8 – I have the same problem. I’m a Federation Tactical officer in an Excelsior and I consistently get my butt kicked by pitzy little escorts who unload an alpha strike and take me down in one shot. This is even with my stats modded to hell with consoles, etc.

Honestly, it’s more than frustrating, and has made me consider giving the game up more than once.

Come to think of it, I don’t play it much at all any more… Hmmmm…

February 3, 2012 6:11 pm

Calastir

Beautiful graphics, but a Starfleet officer shouldn’t be running in the hallway unless there’s an emergency. But besides that, since when did the Federation switch to the Dalek objectives of seek…locate…destroy everything? I must have missed that memo.

Oh, now I’ve got it, this is all the mirror universe, right?

February 3, 2012 6:23 pm

Pensive's Wetness

fricking show off…. at least he plays Counter Strike or something that uses Steam…

February 3, 2012 7:10 pm

N

It’s a very addictive game, storyline isn’t brilliant, but a lot better than any other Trek game. It feels like fanfiction, but a thought out one.
I’ve been playing it for almost 2 weeks and I’m already just about level 49 so I hope there’s a level increase :P

February 3, 2012 8:42 pm

Simon Belfast

I joined this week with the Free to Play incentive and I love it. Give it a go, it’s great fun and very faithful to the Trek universe. Think of it as a ‘Best Of’ compilation of Starfleet Academy, Elite Force and Judgment Rites. Worth a try!

February 3, 2012 8:46 pm

Nick F

@#6 I see it in the tradition of the Ambassador class advancing to the Galaxy class. General shape is roughly the same, but they do stand out from one another. The most distinctive feature is the “double neck”, which can be obscured in a lot of videos.

@#12 The Borg don’t show up after the demo until you are very much higher in level 47+, I think. They tend to be a heck of a lot tougher, and if you are doing ground combat, will adapt to various weapon damage. You’ll have to use the “remodulator” to be effective again.

February 3, 2012 8:56 pm

N

From the back, the Odyssey looks a little like an Oberth on steroids.

February 3, 2012 9:07 pm

Dave in RI

Watching those videos, I would be totally overwhelmed playing this game. There is so much going on all at once.

Super Mario Bros. this ain’t.

February 3, 2012 9:22 pm

Nano

Any update on the Star trek game based on the Movie? Sorry I don’t recall the name…

February 4, 2012 12:15 am

Battle-scarred Sciatica

I have been totally sucked into the F2P STO.

I don’t usually play games but this is actually quite Interesting and enjoyable.

Look out for Lt. Mandeirax of the USS Otago Peninsula. She’s a little tin can science vessel but she serves her crew well!

I suppose I should really consider getting a real life soon! LOL.

LLAP

February 4, 2012 4:15 am

Bart

Where is the Mac version? Are they so incompetent in developing software that they cant even port it to OSX? Come on…

February 4, 2012 11:04 am

DrJamez

OSX Mac computers can boot Windows. If one has a Mac like that (and I am a fan!) and can afford the “Apple Tax,” then having a Windows partition shouldn’t be out of the picture, financially speaking. At least, that is the prevailing theory. ;-)

February 4, 2012 1:49 pm

Ctrl-Opt-Del

@24. Bart – February 4, 2012 – “Are they so incompetent in developing software that they cant even port it to OSX?” You chose to get a Mac knowing the limitations. Stop complaining.

How is it incompetency? They’re a Game company, emphasis on COMPANY. Meaning they’re out to make money. When they originally started making the game, they most likely looked at the demographic they’re targeting, and what computer platforms they game on, and they chose PC.

You also have to understand that porting a game to another COMPLETELY different operating system (OSX is Unix based), costs a boat load of money in man-power, development software licencing, and the biggest roadblock of all: Star Trek Online uses a DirectX powered game engine to render graphics. DirectX –==//WILL NOT//==– run on OSX, and modding/reworking the game engine to work in OpenGL would most likely cause more problems then solve.

Lastly, Cryptic Studios is owned by Perfect World Entertainment, and at last check, all 10 of their current published titles (STO included), are Windows based, and STO is F2P now, so you can kiss any chance of STO getting a mac Port good bye.

Only Three game companies (IIRC) in recent memory have developed games from the get go with Macs in mind: Blizzard (all of their games work on Macs because Blizzard started out as a Mac Game company), EA Maxis (Most sims games, Spore, Sim City, & others work on Mac), and Valve (Portal 2, and backwards porting most of their library because the source engine works in directX and openGL).

Like Ctrl-Opt-Del said, you chose to use a Mac knowing full well what that meant, quit QQing.

February 4, 2012 9:31 pm

Robert H.

Never had the time to play Star Trek online. But from the looks of it, it feels like The Motion Picture with its pace, but meant for combat.

I have been trying to like the Odyssey class, but not with that stupid double neck design.

February 5, 2012 5:42 am

Zoberraz

The Odyssey’s dual saucer pylons have much less to do with the Oberth and much more with the Akira-class’ catamaran hull.

If you like the Akira, there’s little reason why the Odyssey’s design direction should seem so foreign. Unusual, but not foreign.

February 5, 2012 12:56 pm

Khan was Framed!

PUT IT OUT FOR MAC ALREADY!!!!

February 5, 2012 1:26 pm

N

Macs are inferior. Just saying.

February 5, 2012 2:13 pm

Allenburch

It’s not clear in the article above, so I want everyone to know that these “one-time” missions will reward you the Odyssey and Bortas ships for you to KEEP, even if you are 1st level.

You receive a “pack” in your inventory that you can open later when you have reached the appropriate level.

However, these one-time missions are only obtainable until 10:00 PST Monday morning, Feb 6, and if they decide to do a patch in the morning which they often times do…you probably want to get these ships tonight.

I played online for about a year, it takes up a lot of your time, but that is a good thing; it means they’ve created a great product.

It can be overwhelming at first, I would make sure you learn all about the types of missions, bridge officers and career paths first. Those really determine how you spend your time, the rest you can figure out along the way.

Have fun!!

February 7, 2012 2:41 pm

Azrael

I did both of the 2nd anniversary missions, the Odyssey mission was fun, can’t wait till I get to level 50 and can use the ship again, but the Q encounter was extremely annoying (chasing mini-Qs is not fun), still a very fun game, and a serious time-sink (almost as much as Skyrim).

February 7, 2012 3:35 pm

N

Chasing the mini Q things was fun on the first day when there were dozens of people running around at the same time.

February 7, 2012 6:45 pm

Kon

Considering it’s free-to-play, I really have no complaints. To any of the game developers reading this: THANKS.

February 8, 2012 1:36 am

PEB

said it before and i’ll say it again, star trek was meant for a game like the mass effect series. i wish someone would just get it right already. dont get me wrong, sto is free to play so you cant make much complaints about that, but still- it’s basically a combination of star trek armada & star trek starfleet command 3 just on a bigger scale with a little bit of elite force 2 thrown in there for good measure. on paper it sounds good but the result is an average game. we’ve dealt with average for a while. i loved bridge commander but they had the chance to make it a series if it wasnt just a computer game but had been on consoles. sorry for the rant but the state of star trek games is a frustrating subject for me -a hardcore gamer.

February 8, 2012 1:01 pm

Kon

PEB has a good point. Game’s similarities with the Starfleet Command series in particular, is obvious.

February 8, 2012 7:35 pm

Azrael

Well I haven’t played either of the Mass Effect games, nor have I played any other ST games, except Armada I, and the one on the Sega Genesis (which was really fun). It wasn’t that I didn’t want to play others, I just didn’t have the any way to acquire or use them. For awhile I didn’t want to play the game, but when it went FTP, I figured I would give it a try. So far I haven’t been seriously disappointed I have played Time Loop missions, pursued Orion Pirates, battled Klingons, Romulans, Borg, Gorn, rescued ships in distress, stopped plagues, unraveled diplomatic conspiracies, and done many other things, and I’m only level 34. My only major gripe with the game is that I, personally, don’t like the storyline’s effect on the fate of Chancellor Martok. Nor the fact that General Worf has severed his ties to the Federation, and so far I haven’t found any information about Alexander, but I have read mentions of a second son of Worf, especially after Captain Data and the Enterprise E rescued him from death after he was impaled by a dishonorable attack on Nero’s bridge (in the ST: Countdown mini, in continuity for this game, which is in the Prime timeline, about 22 years after the events of Countdown). The Romulan Empire is far from gone, btw (though I have been to the remains of Romulus). I have met Lt. Miral Paris of Starfleet, and Ensign Kirayoshi O’Brian, which I liked, as well as Captain Akira Sulu (grandson), and Captain McKenzie Calhoun, I kind of hope I get to take down the House of Duras in the Klingon side of the game. Overall I would have to give the game a solid 7, probably 8 to 8.5 if you pay for… Read more »